Kekalainen, a native of Finland who worked with Blue Jackets president John
Davidson at St. Louis, is the first European general manager in NHL history.

"Hockey is truly a global game and there are very few people whose knowledge
of the game in North America and abroad surpasses that of Jarmo Kekalainen,"
said Davidson in a statement Wednesday. "He is intelligent, hard-working and a
tremendous evaluator of talent. He is a terrific addition to the Blue Jackets
family and will play an important role in our efforts to move our organization
forward in the coming years."

Kekalainen spent eight seasons (2002-10) with the Blues as assistant general
manager and director of amateur scouting. He had been serving as general
manager of Jokerit in the Finnish Elite League since 2010.

"I am very grateful to the Blue Jackets organization for this opportunity and
am looking forward to getting started," said Kekalainen. "We have a great
challenge before us, but I am confident through hard work, organization and
commitment that we will achieve our goal of building a Stanley Cup contending
team."

The Blue Jackets enter Wednesday's action with a record of 4-7-2, tied for
12th in the Western Conference with just 10 points.

Columbus was 173-190-59 with Howson at the helm and made its lone playoff
appearance in the spring of 2009. The Jackets were the worst team in the NHL
last season with just 65 points.

The 46-year-old Kekalainen was born in Finland, but played two seasons of
college hockey at Clarkson University and appeared in 55 NHL games with Ottawa
and Boston during a six-year career.

After his playing days ended in the Swedish Elite League in 1994-95,
Kekalainen was a member of the Senators' hockey operations department from
1995-2002.